The Plague Comes to Messina and Catania

Siculis vero de hujusmodi pace nimium congaudentibus, & sub pace existentibus tranquilla Deum collaudantibus de tam immenso dono, quod antiqui Reges Siculi hactenus obtinere minime potuerant, pestis letifera fuit in insula Sicilie universaliter exorta, occasione quadam subscripta.

While the Sicilians were rejoicing greatly over this peace, and, being in tranquil peace, were praising God for so immense a gift, which the old Kings of Sicily had until now been quite unable to obtain, a deadly plague arose throughout [universally in] the island of Sicily, by a certain occasion written below.

The Sicilians were overjoyed at this peace.1 Living at peace at last, they praised God for so great a gift, one the kings of Sicily before them had never been able to win. Then a deadly plague broke out all over the island of Sicily. This is how it happened.

1. The peace between Sicily and Queen Joanna I of Naples, signed on November 7, 1347, after long years of war between their kingdoms. The pope never ratified it.

Accidit ergo, quod de mense Octobris anno dominice Incarnationis MCCCXLVII. circa principium mensis Octobris prime Indictionis, duodecim galee Januensium, divinam fugientes ulcionem, quam Dominus noster pro eorum iniquitatibus desuper eis transmiserat, applicuerunt in portum civitatis Messane, talem secum morbum ossibus infixum deferentes, quod si quis cum aliquo ipsorum locutus fuisset, erat infirmitate effectus letali, quam mortem nullatenus evadere poterat inmediate.

It happened therefore that in the month of October, in the year of the Lord’s Incarnation 1347, about the beginning of the month of October, of the first Indiction, twelve galleys of the Genoese, fleeing the divine vengeance which our Lord had sent down upon them for their iniquities, put in at the port of the city of Messina, carrying with them a disease so fixed in their bones that if anyone had spoken with any one of them, he was struck with a deadly sickness, a death which he could in no way escape, immediately.

In the year of the Lord’s Incarnation 1347, at the beginning of October, in the first indiction,2 twelve Genoese galleys put in at the port of the city of Messina.3 They were fleeing the vengeance of God, which our Lord had sent down on them for their sins.4 They brought with them a disease so fixed in their bones that anyone who had spoken with one of them caught a deadly sickness at once. He could in no way escape death.

2. Years counted in the fifteen-year cycle of the indiction, which in Sicily began each September 1. The first indiction here ran from September 1, 1347, to August 31, 1348.
3. Genoa, in northern Italy, was a city-republic whose merchants traded across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Messina, in northeastern Sicily, guarded the strait between Sicily and the mainland.
4. The belief that God sent disease to punish wrongdoing. The chronicler does not say what the Genoese had done.

Signa vero mortis Januensium & Messanensium cum eis participantium talia erant. Quod propter infectionem hanelitus inter eos mixti universaliter alloquentes, adeo unus alterum inficiebat, quod quasi totus dolore concussus videbatur, & quodammodo conquassatus; ex cujus doloris conquassatione & hanelitus inficiatione oriebatur quedam pustula circa femur, vel brachium ad modum lenticule: Que ita inficiebat & penetrabat corpus, quod violenter spuebant sanguinem: quo sputo spuendo per triduum, incessanter sine aliqua cura curabili vitam expirabant; & non tantum moriebantur quicumque eis conversabantur, ymmo quicumque de rebus eorum emeret, tangeret, seu affectaret.

The signs of death of the Genoese and of the Messinese sharing [company] with them were these. Because of the infection of breath, those mixed among them, speaking together everywhere, one so infected the other that he seemed almost wholly shaken with pain, and in a way shattered; from which shattering of pain and infection of breath there arose a certain pustule near the thigh or the arm, in the manner [shape] of a lentil, which so infected and penetrated the body that they violently spat blood; and spitting this spittle for three days, unceasingly, with no curable cure, they breathed out their life; and not only did whoever conversed with them die, but indeed whoever bought, touched, or sought [handled?] any of their things.

These were the signs of death in the Genoese and in the people of Messina who mixed with them. As they talked together, their breath carried the infection,5 and one person infected another. The sick man seemed shaken all over with pain, almost shattered. From this pain and the infected breath a lentil-shaped pustule rose near the thigh or the arm. It so infected and penetrated the body that the sick spat blood violently. They spat for three days without stopping, and no treatment could cure them. Then they breathed their last. And not only did everyone who talked with them die, but anyone who bought, touched, or sought out their belongings.

5. The idea that disease passed from person to person by breath, touch, or objects, long before anyone knew about germs.

Messanenses vero cognoscentes dictam eorum repentinam mortem eis incurrere propter Januensium galearum adventum, eos de portu & civitate predicta cum festinantia maxima expulerunt. Remansitque dicta infirmitas in civitate predicta, ex qua sequuta extitit immensa mortalitas.

But the Messinese, recognizing that this sudden death of theirs came upon them because of the arrival of the Genoese galleys, drove them out from the port and the said city with the greatest haste. And the said sickness remained in the said city, from which there followed an immense mortality.

When the people of Messina realized that this sudden death had come on them because of the Genoese galleys, they drove the Genoese out of the port and the city as fast as they could. But the sickness stayed in the city, and a great mortality followed.

Et in tantum unus alium habebat exosum, quod si filius de morbo predicto infirmabatur, pater sibi adherere penitus recusabat; & si ad eum ausus esset appropinquare, adeo infectus erat morbo predicto, quod mortem nullatenus evadere poterat, quin per triduum suum spiritum non exalaret. Et non tantum solus ipse de domo moriebatur, sed omnes familiares in eadem domo astantes, catuli, & animalia in dicta domo existentia patrem familias mortui sequebantur.

And so much did one hold the other hateful [loathsome] that if a son fell sick of the said disease, the father utterly refused to stay by him; and if he had dared to approach him, he was so infected by the said disease that he could in no way escape death, without breathing out his spirit within three days. And not only did he alone of the house die, but all the household standing by in the same house, the puppies [dogs], and the animals being in the said house followed the father of the family, dead.

People came to loathe one another so much that if a son fell sick with the disease, his father would not stay with him. If the father dared to go near him, he caught the disease himself and could not escape death. Within three days he breathed his last. And he did not die alone. Everyone in his household who stood by him, even the dogs and the animals in the house, followed the head of the family in death.

Et intantum mortalitas ipsa Messanensibus invaluit, quod petebant multi Sacerdotibus confiteri sua peccata, & testamenta conficere, & Sacerdotes, Judices, & Notarii ad domos eorum accedere recusabant; & si aliqui ipsorum ad eorum hospitia ingrediebantur pro testamentis, & talibus conficiendis, mortem nullatenus repentinam poterant evitare.

And so strongly did the mortality itself prevail over the Messinese that many asked to confess their sins to Priests and to make wills, and Priests, Judges, and Notaries refused to go to their houses; and if any of them entered their lodgings to make wills and such things, they could in no way avoid sudden death.

The mortality grew so strong in Messina that many people asked to confess their sins to a priest and to make their wills. But priests, judges, and notaries refused to come to their houses. Any who did go into their homes to draw up wills and the like could not escape sudden death.

Fratres vero Ordinis minorum & Predicatorum & aliorum ordinum accedere volentes ad domos infirmorum predictorum, & confitentes eisdem de eorum peccatis, & dantes eis penitentiam juxta velle . . . . divinam justitiam, adeo letalis mors ipsos infecit, quod fere in eorum cellulis de eis aliqui remanserunt.

But the Friars of the Order of Minors and of Preachers and of other orders, willing to go to the houses of the said sick, and hearing their confessions of their sins, and giving them penance according to the will . . . . divine justice, so deadly a death infected them that hardly any of them remained in their cells.

Friars of the Order of Minors, of the Preachers, and of other orders were willing to go to the homes of the sick.6 They heard their confessions and gave them penance according to divine justice.7 But death struck them down so hard that hardly any of them were left in their cells.

6. The Friars Minor (Franciscans) and the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), orders of friars who lived among townspeople, preached, and heard confessions.
7. The printed text has a gap here, marked by a row of dots.

Quid ultra? cadavera stabant sola in hospitiis propriis, nullus Sacerdos, filius, sive pater, atque consanguineus ausus erat in eisdem intrare, sed tribuebant bastasiis non modicam pensionem pro cadaveribus in sepultura deferendis predictis. Hospitia defunctorum remanebant aperta, & patentia cum omnibus jocalibus, pecunia, & thesauris; adeo ut si quis ingredi vellet, aditus a nullo proibitus erat.

What more? The corpses lay alone in their own houses; no Priest, son, or father, or kinsman dared to enter them, but they paid porters no small fee for carrying the said corpses to burial. The houses of the dead remained open and standing wide with all their jewels, money, and treasures, so that if anyone wished to go in, entry was forbidden by no one.

What more is there to say? Corpses lay alone in their own houses. No priest, son, father, or other relative dared to go in. Instead they paid porters good money to carry the bodies to burial. The houses of the dead stood wide open, with all their jewels, money, and valuables. Anyone who wished could walk in, and no one stopped him.

Nam tanta subito pestilentia exorta est, ut ministri quoque primum non sufficerent, deinde non essent.

For so great a pestilence suddenly arose that the attendants too were at first not enough, and then were not [at all].

The pestilence came on so suddenly and so strongly that at first there were not enough servants and attendants, and then there were none at all.

Quapropter Messanenses hunc casum terribilem & monstruosum intuentes, migrare de civitate quam mori potius elegerunt; & non solum in urbem veniendi, sed etiam appropinquandi ad eam negabatur. In aeris & in vineis extra civitatem cum eorum familiis statuerunt mansiones. Aliqui vero & pro majori parte in civitatem Catanie perrexerunt, confisique quod beata Cataniensis Agatha virgo eosdem tali infirmitate liberaret.

Therefore the Messinese, seeing this terrible and monstrous event, chose to leave the city rather than to die; and not only coming into the city, but even approaching it, was refused [to them?]. In the threshing floors and in the vineyards outside the city they set up dwellings with their families. But some, and for the greater part, went on to the city of Catania, trusting that the blessed virgin Agatha of Catania would free them from such a sickness.

Seeing this terrible and monstrous thing, the people of Messina chose to leave the city rather than die. No one was allowed into the city, or even near it. They set up homes with their families on the threshing floors and in the vineyards outside the walls. But most went on to the city of Catania. They trusted that the blessed virgin Agatha of Catania would free them from the sickness.8

8. Agatha, an early Christian martyr, was the patron saint of Catania, where her relics were kept. Catania lies about 55 miles (90 km) south of Messina.

Inclita Regina Helisabeth Regina Sicilie, existens in civitate Catanie, don Fridericum filium suum, qui in civitate Messane tunc temporis aderat, ad se festinanter jussit venire; qui cum galeis Venetorum Cataniam festinanter applicuit.

The renowned Queen Elisabeth, Queen of Sicily, being in the city of Catania, ordered Don Frederick her son, who was at that time in the city of Messina, to come to her in haste; and he came in haste to Catania with galleys of the Venetians.

Queen Elisabeth of Sicily was in the city of Catania. She sent for her son Don Frederick, who was in Messina at the time, to come to her at once.9 He hurried to Catania on Venetian galleys.

9. Elisabeth of Carinthia, widow of King Peter II. Her son Frederick, born in 1342, later reigned as Frederick IV. Her elder son Louis, still a boy, was king.

Existentibus vero quampluribus Messanensibus in civitate Catanie, piis porrectis petitionibus ad dominum Patriarcham predictum, ipsum unanimiter exorarunt, ut cum reliquiis aliquibus Agathe virginis supradicte ipse personaliter, devotionis causa, sicut decet honorifice, Messanam se conferret. Credimus enim, inquiunt, quod propter adventum reliquiarum predictarum, Messana civitas erit ex tali penitus infirmitate liberata.

Very many Messinese being in the city of Catania, having presented pious petitions to the lord Patriarch aforesaid, begged him with one voice that he personally, for the sake of devotion, as is fitting, honorably, should go to Messina with some relics of the virgin Agatha above-mentioned. For we believe, they say, that because of the coming of the said relics the city of Messina will be wholly freed from such a sickness.

Many of the people of Messina who were now in Catania presented a devout petition to the lord Patriarch.10 With one voice they begged him to go to Messina himself, out of devotion and with fitting honor, taking some of the relics of the virgin Agatha. “For we believe,” they said, “that when these relics come, the city of Messina will be wholly freed from this sickness.”

10. Gerard Odonis, a Franciscan and former head of his order, held the title of Latin Patriarch of Antioch and ran the church of Catania for the pope from 1342.

Dictus vero Patriarcha, eorum precibus devote commotus, annuit, cum reliquiis predictis Messanam personaliter accessurus. Et hoc anno domini MCCCXLVII. circa finem mensis Novembris prime Indictionis.

The said Patriarch, devoutly moved by their prayers, agreed, intending to go in person to Messina with the said relics. And this [was] in the year of the Lord 1347, about the end of the month of November, of the first Indiction.

The Patriarch was moved by their prayers and agreed to take the relics to Messina himself. This was in the year of the Lord 1347, toward the end of November, in the first indiction.

Agatha virgo sacra considerans intrinsecum dolum, & Messanensium insidias, qui semper ei impositum extiterunt tamquam signum ad sagictam, volentes reliquias predicte virginis apud Messanam retinere, Domino operante, precibus eidem per Virginem supradictam porrectis, plebs universa civium ad dictum Patriarcham se contulit, exclamans & dicens, quod sibi talia omnimode non placebat: & extortis clavibus a mariglerio, dictum Patriarcham fortiter increpavit, asserens prius mori eligere, quam reliquias predictas ad Messanam debere transferri.

The holy virgin Agatha, considering the inward deceit and the plots of the Messinese, who had always been set against her like a mark for an arrow, wishing to keep the relics of the said virgin at Messina, by the Lord’s working, prayers having been offered to Him through the Virgin above-mentioned, the whole common people of the citizens went to the said Patriarch, crying out and saying that such things in no way pleased them; and having wrested the keys from the keeper [mariglerius?], they rebuked the said Patriarch strongly, declaring that they would rather choose to die than that the said relics should be carried to Messina.

But the holy virgin Agatha saw the hidden deceit and the plots of the Messinese, who had always aimed at her like archers at a target.11 They meant to keep her relics at Messina. But the Lord went to work, moved by prayers offered through her. All the common people of Catania went to the Patriarch shouting that they would not stand for it. They seized the keys from the keeper of the shrine and rebuked the Patriarch fiercely. They would rather die, they said, than let the relics go to Messina.

11. The Latin echoes Lamentations 3:12, “he set me as a mark for the arrow.” It may instead mean that the people of Messina had always been Agatha’s target.

Ad cujus increpationem dictus Patriarcha nequiens aliud facere, honorifice cum cantilenis ecclesiasticis, & cum devotione maxima, ad locum, ubi predicte reliquie conservabantur, cum monastico choro, & divinis orationibus fuit ingressus, & de aquis mundis certas reliquias sanctas predictas madefecit, quam aquam sanctam jussit ad civitatem Messane deferri, cum qua ipse per mare navigans personaliter transfretavit.

At this rebuke the said Patriarch, unable to do otherwise, with honor, with church chants and with the greatest devotion, entered the place where the said relics were kept, with the monastic choir and divine prayers, and moistened certain of the said holy relics with clean water, which holy water he ordered to be carried to the city of Messina, with which he himself, sailing by sea, crossed over in person.

Faced with this rebuke, the Patriarch could do nothing else. With church chants and great devotion, he entered the place where the relics were kept, with the choir of monks and holy prayers. He dipped some of the holy relics in clean water and ordered the holy water to be taken to Messina. He sailed there with it himself.

Quid ultra? Patriarcha vero predictus in civitatem Messane postquam applicuit, sanctam aquam predictam portans, multos & diversos infirmos ex aque predicte aspersione & signatione liberavit. Concurrunt igitur cives Messanenses ad Patriarcham supradictum, quem cum multo gaudio videre festinant, multas sibi & Deo gratias offerentes.

What more? The said Patriarch, after he landed at the city of Messina carrying the said holy water, freed many and various sick people by the sprinkling and signing of the said water. The citizens of Messina therefore run together to the Patriarch above-mentioned, whom they hasten to see with much joy, offering many thanks to him and to God.

What more is there to say? When the Patriarch landed at Messina with the holy water, he sprinkled many different sick people with it, made the sign of the cross over them, and freed them from the sickness. The people of Messina came running to him. They hurried to see him with great joy and gave many thanks to him and to God.

Apparebant enim in predicta civitate Demones in figura canis transformati, multa damna Messanensium corporibus inferentes; qui stupefacti nemo ausus erat a domo egredi.

For there appeared in the said city Demons transformed into the shape of a dog, inflicting many injuries on the bodies of the Messinese; who, stunned, no one dared to go out of the house.

For demons had been appearing in the city in the shape of dogs, doing great harm to people’s bodies.12 The people were so terrified that no one dared to leave the house.

12. Many medieval Christians believed that demons, evil spirits, could cause illness and could appear in the shape of animals or people.

Tamen de comuni assensu omnium, de voluntate Messanensis Archiepiscopi, civitatem predictam cum letaniis devote circuire statuerunt, & dum ingrederetur universa plebs Messanensium in civitate, niger canis quidam, secum in manu ensem extractum deferens, apparuit inter eos; qui fremens irruit in eosdem, & omnia vasa argentea, lampades, & candelabria in altaribus existentia fregit, & diversimode conquassavit. In cujus visione omnes semimortui in faciem eorum se unanimiter prosternerunt. Sed dum post moram vires resumentes surgunt, dictum canem de Ecclesia egredientem intuerunt, quem nemo fuit ausus insequi vel appropinquare.

Yet by the common assent of all, by the will of the Archbishop of Messina, they decided to go devoutly around the said city with litanies; and while the whole common people of the Messinese was entering in the city, a certain black dog, carrying with it in its hand a drawn sword, appeared among them; who, raging, rushed upon them, and broke all the silver vessels, lamps, and candlesticks standing on the altars, and smashed them in various ways. At the sight of this all, half dead, threw themselves on their faces with one accord. But when after a while, regaining their strength, they rise, they saw the said dog going out of the Church, whom no one dared to follow or approach.

All the same, with everyone’s agreement and by the wish of the archbishop of Messina, they decided to go in procession around the city, chanting litanies. While all the people were going in, a black dog appeared among them, carrying a drawn sword in its hand. Snarling, it rushed at them. It broke all the silver vessels, lamps, and candlesticks on the altars and smashed them to pieces. At the sight, everyone fell on their faces, half dead with fear. After a while they found their strength again and got up. They saw the dog leaving the church, and no one dared to follow it or go near it.

Messanenses vero de hujusmodi mira visione territi, miro modo sunt universaliter effecti timidi. Quapropter ad beatam Virginem de Scalis per miliaria sex a civitate Messane distantem, scalciatis pedibus, cum processione Sacerdotali, comuniter ambulare statuerunt.

The Messinese, terrified by such a wondrous sight, became all of them wondrously fearful. Therefore they decided to walk together, with bare feet, with a priestly procession, to the blessed Virgin of the Scala, six miles distant from the city of Messina.

The people of Messina were terrified by this strange sight, and fear gripped them all. So they decided to walk together barefoot, in a procession led by priests, to the blessed Virgin of the Scala, six miles from the city.13

13. The shrine of Santa Maria della Scala, in a valley in the hills outside Messina. It was a house of nuns, abandoned after the plague.

Ad quam appropinquantes Virginem, omnes unanimiter in terris fixerunt devotissime genua, cum lacrimis, Dei & beate Virginis clamantes subsidium; & ingredientes in Ecclesiam supradictam, devotis orationibus, & Sacerdotali cantilena divina clamantes, miserere nostri Deus, quamdam ymaginem matris Dei sculpitam, ibidem antiquitus constitutam, propriis manibus appreenderunt. Quam in civitatem Messane elegerunt ingredi facere, propter cujus visionem & ingressionem putabant demonia a civitate eicere, & a tali mortalitate penitus liberari.

Approaching this Virgin, all with one accord most devoutly fixed their knees on the ground, with tears, crying for the help of God and of the blessed Virgin; and entering the church above-mentioned, crying out with devout prayers and the priestly divine chant, Have mercy on us, God, they took with their own hands a certain carved image of the Mother of God, set up there of old. This they chose to make enter the city of Messina, through the sight and entry of which they thought to cast the demons out of the city and to be wholly freed from such a mortality.

As they came near the Virgin’s church, they all knelt on the ground together, weeping and crying out for help from God and the blessed Virgin. They went into the church with devout prayers, chanting with the priests, “Have mercy on us, O God.” Then with their own hands they took up a carved image of the Mother of God that had stood there since ancient times. They decided to bring it into Messina. They believed that when the image was seen in the city and entered it, it would drive out the demons and free them from the mortality.

Propter quod elegerunt quendam Sacerdotem ydoneum dictam ymaginem super quodam equo in brachiis suis honorifice apportare. Et revertentes ad dictam civitatem cum ymagine supradicta, dicta sacra Dei Mater, dum vidit & appropinquavit ad dictam civitatem, adeo sibi exosam reputavit, & totaliter peccatis sanguinolentam, quod post tergum reversa, non tantum intrare noluit in civitatem, sed ipsam aborruit oculis intueri. Propter quod tellus aperta extitit in profundum, & equus, super quo dicta Dei matris ferebatur ymago, fixus & immobilis extitit sicut petra, & precedere, vel retrocedere non valebat.

For which [purpose] they chose a certain suitable Priest to carry the said image honorably in his arms upon a certain horse. And as they were returning to the said city with the above-mentioned image, the said holy Mother of God, when she saw and approached the said city, held it so hateful to herself, and wholly bloody with sins, that, turning her back, not only did she refuse to enter the city, but she shrank from looking at it with her eyes. Because of which the earth opened into the depth, and the horse, on which the said image of the Mother of God was carried, stood fixed and immovable like a rock, and could neither go forward nor go back.

They chose a worthy priest to carry the image with honor in his arms, riding on a horse. As they came back toward Messina with the image, the holy Mother of God saw the city and drew near it. She found it so hateful, so stained with the blood of its sins, that she turned her back on it. Not only would she not enter the city; she could not bear to look at it. At that the earth split open deep down. The horse carrying the image of the Mother of God stood fixed like a rock and could neither go forward nor back.

Populus Messanensium talia miracula intuentes, ululando cum mestis suspiriis, & crebris lacrimis, beatam Virginem deprecarunt, ut ab eis de commissis eorum peccatis recentem non sumeret ulcionem; ad quorum preces Virgo, Christi sacra sponsa, humilibus eorum precibus sacras domino porrexit petitiones. Quapropter tellurem clausam, que primitus aperta extiterat, equus incedit: & dum pervenisset ad portam civitatis, sacra Dei mater omnimode recusabat ingredi in eadem. Tandem piis orationibus sibi porrectis, ad Ecclesiam majorem civitatis Messane, videlicet ad beatam Mariam la nova ingressa extitit. Quam ymaginem mulieres Messanenses pannis sericis, & jocalibus pretiosis obruunt.

The people of the Messinese, seeing such miracles, wailing with sad sighs and many tears, begged the blessed Virgin that she not take fresh vengeance on them for the sins they had committed; at whose prayers the Virgin, holy bride of Christ, at their humble prayers offered holy petitions to the Lord. Therefore the horse walks on the closed earth, which had at first been opened; and when it had come to the gate of the city, the holy Mother of God altogether refused to enter into it. At last, pious prayers having been offered to her, she entered the greater Church of the city of Messina, namely blessed Mary la nova. This image the women of Messina heap with silk cloths and precious jewels.

When the people of Messina saw these miracles, they wailed and sighed and wept. They begged the blessed Virgin not to take fresh vengeance on them for the sins they had committed. Moved by their humble prayers, the Virgin, holy bride of Christ, carried their petitions to the Lord. The earth that had opened closed again, and the horse walked on. But when it reached the city gate, the holy Mother of God still refused to go in. At last, after many devout prayers to her, she entered the great church of Messina, Saint Mary la Nova.14 The women of Messina covered the image with silk cloths and precious jewels.

14. Santa Maria la Nuova, the cathedral of Messina.

Quid ultra? Nihil profuit ymaginis adventus predictus, immo sic insevit amplius mortalitas, quod unus alii opem ferre nequibat.

What more? The said coming of the image profited nothing; rather the mortality raged [?] so much more that one could not bring help to another.

What more is there to say? The coming of the image did no good at all. The mortality raged worse than ever, so that no one could help anyone else.

Sed pro majori parte cives Messanam deserunt, alii in Calabriam, alii per diversas partes Sicilie, & specialiter in civitatem Catanie sunt dispersi. Sed quid profuit eis lapsus fuge, quia egritudo jam concepta & fixa eorum corpora comeabat? Qui fugientes, aliqui defecerunt in via, in campis, in maritimis, in mari, in casali Mascalarum, in silvis, in vallis, & diversis locis incongruis.

But for the greater part the citizens desert Messina; some into Calabria, some through various parts of Sicily, and especially into the city of Catania, were scattered. But what did the slipping-away of flight profit them, since the sickness already caught and fixed was eating [consuming?] their bodies? Fleeing, some failed [died] on the road, in the fields, on the shores, at sea, in the village of Mascali, in the woods, in the valleys, and in various unfitting places.

Most of the citizens deserted Messina. Some scattered into Calabria, others to different parts of Sicily, above all to the city of Catania.15 But what good was running away? The sickness had already taken hold and was eating at their bodies. Some fell dead as they fled, on the road, in the fields, on the shore, at sea, in the village of Mascali,16 in the woods and valleys, and in all sorts of wretched places.

15. Calabria, the toe of mainland Italy, across the strait from Messina.
16. Mascali, on the coast north of Catania, below Mount Etna, then surrounded by woodland.

Qui venientes in civitatem Catanie vitam eorum in hospitiis exalabant, & in tantum Messanensium in civitate Catanie crevit mortalitas, quod ad postulationem Cataniensium civium ordinatum extitit per Dominum Patriarcham, quod nullus Messanensis aliquo modo sub excomunicationis pena sit inter civitatem sepultus, immo extra in sepulcris bene profundis sepeliantur.

Those coming into the city of Catania breathed out their life in the lodgings, and the mortality of the Messinese in the city of Catania grew so much that at the request of the citizens of Catania it was ordered by the Lord Patriarch that no Messinese in any way, under pain of excommunication, be buried within the city, but rather they be buried outside in well-deep graves.

Those who reached the city of Catania breathed their last in lodging houses. So many people from Messina died in Catania that the citizens asked the Patriarch to act. He ordered, on pain of excommunication, that no one from Messina was to be buried inside the city. They were to be buried outside, in very deep graves.17

17. Excommunication, the penalty for anyone who broke this order, cut a person off from the church and its sacraments.

Quid ultra? adeo fuerunt abominabiles & timorosi, quod nemo cum eis loquebatur, nec conversabant, sed fugiebant velociter eorum visionem, eorum anelitus penitus recusantes, & quasi in derisione omnibus Cataniensibus sunt effecti. Et si aliquis eorum cum aliquo loquebatur, respondebatur sibi vulgariter, non mi parlari ca si Missinisi, & nemo eos hospitabatur. Domos pro eorum habitaculis ad conducendum penitus non inveniebant. Et nisi quod Messanenses aliqui in civitate Catanie cum eorum familia habitantes eos clam hospitabantur, fuissent quasi omni auxilio destituti.

What more? They were so loathsome and fearsome that no one spoke with them, nor did they keep company [with them], but they quickly fled the sight of them, utterly refusing their breath, and they became almost a mockery to all the Catanians. And if any of them spoke with anyone, it was answered to him in the vernacular, non mi parlari ca si Missinisi, and no one gave them lodging. They could find no houses at all to rent for their dwellings. And unless some Messinese living in the city of Catania with their families had secretly lodged them, they would have been almost destitute of all help.

What more is there to say? People found them so loathsome and so frightening that no one would speak to them or keep company with them. Everyone ran from the sight of them and would not breathe their breath. They became a laughingstock to all of Catania. If one of them spoke to anyone, the answer came back in the common speech: Non mi parlari, ca si Missinisi.18 No one would give them lodging. They could find no house to rent anywhere. Some people from Messina who lived in Catania with their families took them in secretly. Without them, they would have had almost no help at all.

18. Sicilian for “Don’t talk to me, because you’re from Messina.”

Disperguntur itaque Messanenses per universam insulam Sicilie, & pergentes in civitatem Siragusie, adeo illa egritudo sic infecit Siragusanos, quod diversos immo immensos letaliter interfecit; terra Xacce, terra Trapani, & civitas Agrigenti, Messane similiter de hujusmodi pestilentia sociarunt; & præcipue terra Trapani, que quasi popolo viduata remansit.

The Messinese are thus scattered through the whole island of Sicily; and going into the city of Syracuse, that sickness so infected the Syracusans that it killed many, indeed immense numbers, fatally; the town of Xacca, the town of Trapani, and the city of Agrigento likewise kept company with Messina in this pestilence, and especially the town of Trapani, which remained almost widowed of people.

So the people of Messina scattered over the whole island of Sicily. When they reached the city of Syracuse, the sickness struck the people there and killed many, a vast number. The towns of Xacca and Trapani and the city of Agrigento shared Messina’s pestilence as well.19 Trapani above all was left almost empty of people.

19. Xacca (modern Sciacca), Trapani, and Agrigento are on the south and west coasts of Sicily; Syracuse is on the east coast, south of Catania.

Quid dicemus de civitate Catanie, que oblivioni tradita est? Tanta fuit pestis predicta exorta in ea, quod non solum pustule ille, que antrachi vulgari vocabulo nuncupabantur, sed etiam glandule quedam in diversis corporum membris nascebantur, nunc in pectine, alie in tibiis, alie in brachiis, alie in gutture.

What shall we say of the city of Catania, which has been handed over to forgetfulness? So great was the said plague arisen in it that not only those pustules which were called antrachi by the common word, but also certain glands [swellings] arose in various members of the bodies, now in the groin, others on the legs, others on the arms, others on the throat.

And what shall we say of the city of Catania, which has been left out of this account? The plague grew so strong there that not only did the pustules appear that people called antrachi,20 but also swellings in different parts of the body: some in the groin, others on the legs, others on the arms, others on the throat.

20. In the common speech antrachi, from the Greek anthrax, “coal,” meaning carbuncles, hard, dark, inflamed lumps in the flesh.

Que quidem a principio erant sicut avellane, & oriebantur cum magno frigoris rigore, & in tantum humanum corpus extenuabant & affligebant, quod diucius in se potentiam non habens standi, se ad lectum persternebat, febribus inmensis incitatus, & amaritudine non modica contristatus. Quapropter glandule ille ad modum nucis crescebant, deinde ad modum ovi galline, vel anseris, & cujus dolore non modico, & humorum putrefactione urgebant dictum humanum corpus sanguinem expuere; quod sputum a pulmone infecto perveniens ad guttur, totum corpus humanum putrefaciebat: quo putrefacto, humoribus deficientibus, spiritum exalabant. Que quidem infirmitas triduo perdurabat; quarto vero die ad minus a rebus humanis predicta humana corpora erant adepta.

These at the beginning were like hazelnuts, and arose with a great shivering of cold, and so wasted and afflicted the human body that, not having in itself the strength to stand any longer, it laid itself down on the bed, driven by immense fevers, and saddened by no small bitterness. Then those swellings grew to the size of a walnut, then to the size of a hen’s egg or a goose’s, and with no small pain and the putrefaction of the humors they forced the said human body to spit out blood; which spittle, coming from the infected lung to the throat, putrefied the whole human body; and this being putrefied, the humors failing, they breathed out their spirit. This sickness lasted three days; but on the fourth day at least the said human bodies were taken [away] from human affairs.

At first the swellings were the size of hazelnuts, and they came on with violent shivering. They so wasted and tormented the body that the sick could no longer stand and took to their beds, burning with high fevers and in great distress. Then the swellings grew to the size of a walnut, then of a hen’s egg or a goose egg. The great pain and the rotting of the humors21 forced the sick to spit blood. This spittle came up from the infected lung to the throat and made the whole body rot. With the body rotted and its humors failing, they breathed their last. The sickness lasted three days. By the fourth day at the latest, they had left the world of the living.

21. The body fluids (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile) that medieval doctors believed had to stay in balance for health.

Catanienses vero perpendentes talem egritudinem sic brevi finire tempore, sicuti dolor capitis eis superveniebat, & rigor frigoris, omnia peccata eorum primo & ante omnia Sacerdotibus confitebantur, & deinde testamenta eorum conficiebantur. Tanta erat in predicta civitate condempsa mortalitas, quod judices & notarii fexi ad testamenta facienda ire recusabant. Et si ad aliquem infirmum accederent, ab eo procul omnimode stabant. Sacerdotes vero nullatenus ad domos infirmorum accedere timore pre nimio mortis trepidabant.

The Catanians, weighing that such a sickness ended in so brief a time, as soon as a headache and shivering came upon them, first and before all confessed all their sins to Priests, and then their wills were made. So dense [?] was the mortality in the said city that the judges and notaries [fexi?] refused to go to make wills. And if they went to any sick person, they stood far off from him in every way. The Priests trembled to go at all to the houses of the sick, from excessive fear of death.

The people of Catania saw how quickly the sickness ran its course. As soon as they felt a headache and shivering, they confessed all their sins to a priest, first of all, and then had their wills made. The mortality in the city grew so thick that the judges and notaries refused to go and draw up wills. If they did go to a sick person, they stood far away from him. The priests were so afraid of death that they shrank from going to the houses of the sick at all.

Tanta erat inmensa mortalitas in civitate predicta, quod judices & notarii in conficiendis testamentis, nec Sacerdotes ad peccatorum confitenda peccamina poterant totaliter continuo vacare. Patriarcha vero predictus volens de animabus Cataniensium providere, cuilibet Sacerdoti, licet minimo, totam, quam habebat ipse Episcopalem & Patriarchalem licentiam, de absolvendis peccatis tribuit atque dedit. Quapropter omnes, qui deficiebant, secundum veram opinionem ad locum Dei tutum infallibiliter erant recepti.

So immense was the mortality in the said city that neither the judges and notaries in making wills, nor the Priests for confessing the sins of sinners, could attend continuously at all. The said Patriarch, wishing to provide for the souls of the Catanians, granted and gave to every Priest, however lowly, the whole Episcopal and Patriarchal license which he himself had for absolving sins. Therefore all who died, according to true belief, were infallibly received into the safe place of God.

The mortality in the city was so great that the judges and notaries could not keep up with the wills, nor the priests with the confessions. The Patriarch wanted to provide for the souls of Catania. So he gave every priest, however lowly, all the power he himself held, as bishop and as patriarch, to absolve sins.22 As a result, all who died were surely received, as the true faith teaches, into the safe place of God.

22. A priest needed his bishop’s permission to absolve some kinds of sin. Gerard governed Catania with a bishop’s powers as its administrator. He passed his full powers to every priest, so that no one need die unabsolved.

Dux vero Joannes predictus timens mortem supradictam, nolens civitatibus & locis appropinquare habitatis propter aeris infectionem, per loca nemorosa & inhabitata circumquaque se hinc inde continue versabatur. Sed dum hinc inde nunc ad aquam mili, que est in nemore Cataniensium, nunc ad quamdam turrim, que vocatur lu blancu per sex miliaria a civitate Catanie distantem, nunc ad quandam Ecclesiam sancti Salvatoris de blanchardu in nemore civitatis predicte, se quasi latitando discurreret, pervenit ad quandam Ecclesiam, seu locum per dictum Ducem noviter constructum, vocatum Sanctu Andria, qui locus est in confinibus nemoris Mascalarum; in quo dum incolumis ac sanus existebat, ex quadam sibi superveniente infirmitate mortuus extitit.

The said Duke John, fearing the death above-mentioned, unwilling to approach cities and inhabited places because of the infection of the air, kept moving continually here and there through wooded and uninhabited places all around. But while he was running about here and there, as if hiding, now to the water of Mili, which is in the wood of the Catanians, now to a certain tower which is called lu blancu, six miles distant from the city of Catania, now to a certain Church of Saint Saviour of blanchardu in the wood of the said city, he came to a certain Church or place newly built by the said Duke, called Sanctu Andria, which place is on the borders of the wood of Mascali; in which, while he was unharmed and healthy, he died of a certain sickness coming upon him.

Duke John feared this death.23 He would not go near cities or inhabited places because the air there was infected,24 so he kept moving from place to place through the woods and wild country. He went here and there, as if in hiding: now to the spring of Mili in the woods of Catania, now to a tower called lu Blancu, six miles from the city, now to the church of San Salvatore de Blanchardu, in the woods of Catania. At last he came to a church and estate he had recently built, called Sanctu Andria, on the edge of the woods of Mascali. He was well and unharmed there, until a sickness came on him and he died.

23. John of Aragon, duke of Athens and Neopatras, governed Sicily as vicar for his young nephew, King Louis. He died on April 3, 1348.
24. The belief that disease spread through foul or poisoned air.

Corpus cujus fuit sepultum in majori Cataniensi Ecclesia, in eo videlicet tumulo, ubi corpus quondam Friderici Regis patris sui fuerat conditum & humatum. Et hoc anno domini MCCCXLVIII. de mense Aprilis prime Indictionis.

His body was buried in the greater Church of Catania, namely in that tomb where the body of the late King Frederick, his father, had been laid and buried. And this [was] in the year of the Lord 1348, in the month of April, of the first Indiction.

His body was buried in the cathedral of Catania, in the same tomb where the body of his father, the late King Frederick, had been laid to rest.25 This was in April, in the year of the Lord 1348, in the first indiction.

25. Frederick III, king of Sicily from 1296 to 1337, the duke’s father.

Que quidem mortalitas duravit a mense Septembris dicte prime Indictionis usque ad mortem Ducis supradicti paulo ante vel post. Talis itaque gravis fuit mortalitas in nullo dispar sexu, in nulla etate dissimilis, generaliter cuactos jugiter . . . . fecit, ut etiam quos non egit in mortem, turpi macie exinanitos afflictosque dimisit atque relaxavit. In qua mortalitate fuit dictus Patriarcha mortuus, & sepultus in majori Cataniensi Ecclesia, anima cujus in pace quiescat.

This mortality lasted from the month of September of the said first Indiction until the death of the Duke above-mentioned, a little before or after. Such a heavy mortality it was, unequal in no sex, dissimilar in no age; generally all continually . . . . it made [did], so that even those whom it did not drive to death it left and let go emptied and afflicted with foul wasting. In which mortality the said Patriarch died, and was buried in the greater Church of Catania; may his soul rest in peace.

This mortality lasted from September of the first indiction until about the time of the duke’s death, a little before or after. It was a heavy mortality. It spared neither sex and no age. It everyone, without stopping.26 Even those it did not kill, it left drained and broken by a foul wasting. In this mortality the Patriarch died too. He was buried in the cathedral of Catania. May his soul rest in peace.

26. Another gap in the printed text, marked by a row of dots. The lost words probably said what the mortality did to everyone.